The real stories from inside the F1 paddock

Bernie on Russian TV

Bernie Ecclestone appeared on the Russian state-funded television network RT talking to political reporter Sophie Shevardnadze, the granddaughter of former Georgian President and Soviet minister of foreign affairs Eduard Shevardnadze. He was typically forthright in his views, describing President Vladimir Putin as being “Super. I’m his best supporter”. He said that F1 was happy to be in Russia.

“People were always a little bit concerned about being here for a race and now people can’t wait, they’re all happy to be here”.

This was not the impression that I got from talking to people in the paddock, but I presume people say different things to different people.

When he was drawn into politics Bernie’s remarks became even more controversial.

“The trouble today in the world is that we haven’t got too many real leaders,” he said. “If you look at all the countries and try to pick somebody – it wouldn’t be easy. You’ve got semi- sort of people who think they would be doing that, but they are not.”

He said that Sepp Blatter made a mistake by stepping down from his role at FIFA.
“I don’t think he should have ever stepped down, and I don’t think he should have ever been challenged, because it’s because of him we have a lot of countries around the world that are now playing football. And if these people allegedly have been corrupted to make things happen in their country, it’s good. It’s a tax football had to pay.”

He continued to express the belief that “Europe is a thing of a past” and said that “it would be nice for people from China and even here, to visit, and look how the old times were, you know. It’s not going anywhere.”

Ecclestone said that the sport “ought to try and be for a little bit in America” but he admitted that is is “not very enthusiastic about America” going on to say that “the biggest problem with them is that they believe [that they are the] greatest sort of power in the world” and that “they are a big island, so they are a bit isolated; they are slowly starting to learn what other people in the world do”.

Ecclestone said that he thought the best F1 driver of all time was Jochen Rindt and said that after he leaves F1, “they’ll probably find somebody doing a much better job that I’ve been doing.”

So it’s safe to assume that he has big meetings coming up to discuss race fees for Austin and/or the other hoped-for American GP? Seems like The Bernard’s usual MO.

As for his comments on Blatter, my friends and I often wonder if The Bernard doesn’t have dinner with Blatter and other bastions of transparency and commitment to open debate and democratic leadership like Putin, Rupert Murdoch and Robert Mugabe.

Ecclestone now passes from unpleasant autocrat status to world-standard
pariah, and our sport of F1 is presented to the free world as an example
of how a singularly corrupt ideology can be successful. Do the really decent
people working in F1 really want their names associated with this utterly
corrupt individual ?

wow, he sure knows how to twist everyone up by saying things so outrageous that only Mr. E could actually be the one saying them.

His nonsense comments about Europe and the “big island” are all part of his negotiation, since I’m sure it galls him hearing that he should take less money from either one when there’s so many “real leaders” out there willing to pay him vast sums….

That and I feel one’s “give a damn” filter diminishes with the advance of three things in life: Money, Power and Age. He’s certainly hitting for the cycle there!

This makes a rival Red Bull championship to F1 look even more attractive – Bernie has either lost the plot or is deliberately devaluing F1 so he can buy it back cheap.

One make chassis by Adrian Newey
Cheaper engines
Red Bull promotional and financial backing
On Free to Air TV
Some races at classic F1 circuits that F1 no longer uses
Lower ticket prices than F1
Finances organised so all teams capable of competing on a level playing field and no drivers able to buy their drive

Yet more incontrovertible proof that Ecclestone is out of touch, out of order and out of his mind. Utterly and profoundly appalling in very way.
Does no one in the F1 community have the guts to stand up to this poisonous dwarf?

Well it certainly will get people talking about F1 during an off week and when people are more likely to chat about engines and Red Bull. Perhaps there are other more positive aspects that could be mentioned if Mr. E wanted to generate “buzz”, but this line of talk is effective.

He may have shaken hands with Renault on an historic payments deal; I don’t know. But you’ve suggested previously IIRC that if Renault fail to offer a 2016 engine to RB then that deal might get taken off the table…

Most of Bernie’s comments should come as no surprise – Bernie is very similar to Putin and Blatter. They manage Russia and Football, respectively, with an iron fist while creaming off plenty of reward for themselves. They don’t like dissension, they clip the wings of anyone who gets too powerful and they control those around them through favours and money. Bernie has done that with F1 for decades now. Don’t forget that he proclaimed respect for Adolf Hitler a few years ago – he’s a dictator, just like Putin, Blatter and Hitler!

Joe are you surprised by Bernie’s comments particularly on Mr Blatter. Is he a personal friend of Mr Blatter? Do you think Joe it was unwise of Mr E to praise Sepp Blatter? Given the ongoing investigations into potential corruption within FIFA it seems like Bernie has scored himself a massive PR own goal to me.

For all his ills over the last 30 years, where would F1 (and all the way-higher-than-average-earnings of all those employed within (i.e. team staff), be without him and his modus operandi? I do not agree with the show as it is but the lifestyles for thousands of people (myself included) has been thanks to him.

I have a very average lifestyle, I am happy with the simpler things in life. My F1 salary is a privilege, not a right. There are identical jobs to mine in the “real” world, but for 50% of what I’m paid. Tha is why I, and most of my colleagues work in F1, certainly not for love of it! This is earnings potential BE has generated for us.

seyms… “success”? perhaps you could highlight where I made any mention of “success” or “successful”. Your words, not not mine.

Don’t you think you’d be making decent money in F1 if it was run more equitably? Your earnings are an accidental byproduct of Bernie’s version of F1 which primarily hoovers money out of the sport with minimal reinvestment. Lotus, Sauber – good teams are treading water under this set-up, McLaren a top tier team must be haemorrhaging money at this point, as an employee in these operations things must be less rosy (Caterham, Marussia?) When the excessive greed of the promoter and associated cronies is a major contributor to the failure of the teams and VENUES change is required. The old boys are living big in the past the free rides over.

With full respect – Question for the boys on the factory floor, is F1 life any different with the ratings slump and general negativity that seems to be the current theme in regard to the sport. Is it all b.s or are you yet to feel the fallout as it takes time to trickle down? Honest question.

As Joe mentioned – the autocratic strongman is pretty compelling in the early years. There is a line they cross where they do more harm than good. Bernie is about a decade and a half over that line – existing simply to ensure his daughters live out their lives as billionaires.

Surely at his age he doesn’t have anything left to win or prove, he doesn’t need the money – it’s just a way of keeping score. Another big deal won’t make any difference to his remaining years – it’s just his ‘adrenaline high’. Bernie clearly doesn’t want to go and retire. The buzz of making billions is likely what keeps him fresh. What other motivation can there be?

Like him or loathe him he is a fascinating guy, a true original and a master of his game. Joe, What do you think his motivation is at this point? I think he just does it because he wants to see if he still can, it keeps him going. As disparaging as blog commentators can be there are no clear signs that he can’t cut it and is out of his depth in my opinion, I just think his F1 business model is becoming unworkable.

This kind of argument is always used to justify perceived success, “if it wasn’t for X then where would we be?”. Well, the growth of a business can be achieved in many ways, some of the most successful businesses are the most ethical, so without Bernie I’m sure F1 would have been very successful, and perhaps a bit cleaner and more transparent…

So what? It seems he was quite the ringmaster 15 years ago, but he sounds painfully out of touch today.

For instance as much as he likes to put down the U.S., F1 will only be a small-time earner ($1.8 billion in annual revenue is peanuts for a global sport) without the TV money the U.S. generates. Not to mention, I don’t see Chinese companies (many of which are expanding abroad) falling over themselves to sponsor teams or sign commercial partnerships with FOM. So much for going to the east.

And Adam was correct. But when the business it to grow and see the business but remain in control, one has to leave something on the table for potential buyers to believe they can exploit. Look at the F1 presence on the web for example.

What was the true story on Adam Parr being ushered out of the sport, no dissenting opinions allowed? I am a fan of Frank Williams but was not impressed that he got dictated to and sacrificed his man (a very highly regarded man at that!), that’s the way it looked from the outside looking in. Expected more fight from Sir Frank.

Too hot a topic still, reserved for an off the record evening with Joe?

I love it when Bernie blames America for not embracing F1 enough. Let’s just recap: F1 has almost no broadcast network TV exposure in America, it has no teams (until next year), it has no drivers (except a part-timer) and it involves car companies that hold no interest for most Americans (Renault? Ferrari?). So while I love F1 and a lot of my countrymen do as well, it’s Bernie who doesn’t get America, not the other way around.

BE’s business model does not work in the USA. That’s all. It’s ridiculous given that the US is the world’s biggest consumer market and will be for another 30 years, but what do we know? It’s his game, until someone takes it away from him.

Firstly Joe what do mean by a more enlightened phase Secondly, is it plausible we could have future F1 GPs at Long Beach ,or downtown Las Vegas and who knows maybe the revised road circuit at Indianapolis ( using the Moto GP road course layout with no banking) to add to the number of F1 races in America ?

This seems like a step or three beyond the normal Bernie political machination-speak. I think, or at least hope, that this is the beginning of his end. Then again, quite a few people favor Donald Trump as a presidential candidate, so offensive crazy talk isn’t as self-harmful as one might think.

actually there are many divergent views. There are many times that people disagree with each other on many issues. It is a healthy aspect of how we grow, and relate, as F1 fans, and a community.

I guess the key here is that Bernie is fairly universally loathed by many of us. Not all of us, as you would see from the comments if you read them all, but most of us.

I think Joe has an extremely open policy to viewpoints and perspective. I’ve never felt I couldn’t express a contrary perspective provided I’m polite in how I express it. If I didn’t respect his views, I wouldn’t invest my time in reading the blog, but respecting his views doesn’t mean I always have to agree with them all… but even if I disagree I still learn from Joe’s perspective. One of the great things about being an adult is the ability to hold a contrary view or perspective to someone and still respect them.

If you take the time you will find wildly divergent perspectives expressed, mostly in a respectful, if occasionally robust manner. It’s not whether we all agree or not that matters, it’s how we interact.

Bernie’s far too manipulative for these remarks to be just placating the Russians. I just haven’t a clue at his end game. If the American media (which is highly unsophisticated about F1) gets ahold of this, they will treat it as if Bernie speaks for the sport as a whole, giving F1 a negative image in a country they can ill afford to have a bad image in.

“Ecclestone said that the sport “ought to try and be for a little bit in America” but he admitted that is is “not very enthusiastic about America” going on to say that “the biggest problem with them is that they believe [that they are the] greatest sort of power in the world” and that “they are a big island, so they are a bit isolated; they are slowly starting to learn what other people in the world do”.”

The people at NBCSN must think there are enough to pay for the rights to show the races. And those of us who watch know of and most will recognize Bernie. As for “think well of him”, there may be a few.

NBCSN isn’t paying for the rights ’cause of Ecclestone or even ’cause of their latent interest in F1; it’s so they can charge cable operators more $$$ to carry NBCSN (there is a HUGE gap between what Comcast, Charter, Brighthouse etc.pays ESPN per subscriber and what they pay FoxSports 1 or NBCSN). NBCSN needs content.

There are a finite number of sports broadcast rights available for nascent cable sports networks to license (btw same reason Malone has looked at F1) and they have to make a go of it with what is available. You might be surprised to learn many,many people working for NBC at the time they were considering bidding for F1 rights had no idea who Ecclestone or Mosley were or anything about their backgrounds.

fyi: 377,000 people in the U.S. watched the British GP broadcast. Would NBC drop F1 in a heartbeat if something more viable became available? I’d bet yes.

There is High School, College and NFL Football and MLB Playoffs on this weekend. Even Hockey will have more coverage. Nobody (18-49) is going to care. The ratings will be abysmal as usual.
Advertising for the race has been minimal this year. I have yet to hear or see an ad and I live a hour and a half away.
Sorry but F1 is a lost cause in the US and now a waste of Texas tax payer money.
I do wonder how the attendance will be since the new Mexican GP follows a week later.

Maybe Bernie wants to make sure the EU will investigate F1. Or maybe he (or CVC) needs to butter up Putin for some reason. But he’s said this kind of thing before, so perhaps it’s just a rare glimpse of what he actually believes.

Anyway, the important thing here is to remember that it’s the ENGINES that are putting people off F1. We know that because Bernie’s told us. F1 has no other image problems, and especially none that are related to anything Bernie has done or said.

I have to say Mr D that is hilarious, if you don’t like what you read, why read it? And, why go to the bother of posting a comment about it.

This is a blog (certain journalistic conventions apply here but even you Mr D can write a blog about anything).

Journalism doesn’t really work if you don’t work hard to get to the truth, and this happens mostly when you are more on the “inside” than than out.

I’m sure we would all love to read about Joe sitting in his French Ivory Castle going to no races, speaking to no contacts built up over decades, and perhaps scraping his F1 news and insights from the bottom of the internet. That was written ironically in case anyone missed it.

For several seasons spanning various races F1 journalism has comprised F1 journos either saying zero with regards to the politics surrounding a race, or writing about the varying political reasons that say F1 should not be in country x, y or z.

The result of either choice has been the same each time: Zero.

Zero because each year the same journos go, collect their earnings and write the same pieces about why F1 shouldn’t have been there.

If all the journos who wrote this stuff actually boycotted said races there’d be no written coverage and you might start making a difference.

It is almost certain Bernie and Mr. Putin would find enough people willing to write something they would like to see published Mr. D.

The “excellent piece of TV interviewing” on RT showed us that if non of the real F1 journalists would show up for the event, it would just mean a propaganda channel would still publish enough to broadcast (apart from the race feed being on too off course) and write, only the quality would be questionable and objectivity abysmal and depth of the coverage shallow.

I wonder if BE, FOM (and for that matter CVC) are at all concerned with the UK anti bribery law.
The comment: “And if these people allegedly have been corrupted to make things happen in their country, it’s good. It’s a tax football had to pay” sounds a lot like an endorsement of a particular business practice which Mr E has been accused of before.
In my layman’s interpretation it sounds very much as though Mr E is clearly advocating a business practice that is quite clearly illegal.

How much longer will his reign continue? Is there nobody at a high level in the sport who cringes when he says rubbish like that? Are they all so fearful of him that they just bite their tongues. The sooner he leaves the better…

“slowly learning what other people do” …. OK, Bernie, when you get off the plane in Austin I’ll come by to pick you up; we’ll take a little drive into the Hill Country. I’ll let you out, and you can learn first hand what other people do. Wear some comfortable shoes and one of your puffy white shirts. It will be fun … really! On Saturday, we can go to Royal stadium for the Kansas State game with 100,000 friends. Be sure to wear blue … it will be fun, really! After the game, we’ll go to a bar I know about and have a few Shiner Bocks. They have a mechanical bull you can ride … it will be fun, really!

Mr E, has got himself in the news again after having said something that a vast majority will object to. But he was on Russian television and whilst it’s available who actually watches or cares about it outside Russia. I accept that the internet age has broken down barriers but the damage was done when the driver’s shook hands with the President of a country that has imposed itself on another.

I can’t stand corruption and the allegations don’t appear to going away but stepping back from the self serving actions of those in the higher echelons of Fifa they have taken the game to places further afield which have potentially expanded audiences and associated advertising revenue. I’m not saying that the end justifies the means but on this point football and F1 are heading in very different directions, which in my view is a shame.

However I don’t think that it is possible to draw parallels between F1 and football. As whilst football can be played with a ball and some jumpers for goal posts motorsport is nowhere near as accessible for the many, the only exposure to motorsport that the majority of people have access is via television.

The racing cigarette packets in years gone by aligned with the then dangerous image of F1 and in the UK the way the coverage has shifted to PPV telly and Murdoch has in my view at least halved the audience which is far more damaging for the sport. How long have McLaren been without a headline sponsor?

The question I ask is who would want to step into Bernie’s shoes and fight to oversee a sport that appears to be continually shooting itself in the foot.

Thanks for the blog Joe and appreciate the view of someone who is more than a spectator.

Maybe the lack of sponsorship is caused by the presence of a person who thinks Blatter is a good guy. And you cannot blame Murdoch for trying to run his business. You blame the people who took his coin…

I’ve recently had a chat with a very high up person within a big bank. He was working on Corporate Social Responsibility and I noticed his cufflinks with a gearshift pattern on it. So we also talked a bit about cars and racing when we came to the situation of F1. They, and I suspect many other big companies, will not sponsor anything in F1 as long as Bernie is there…..

lot of crap onto Bernard Charles Ecclestone i see in above comments…to say in few words – do You lads really think that ‘lunatic’ could achieve what BCE has ? There is more truth in what BCE says than You hear Him saying. And He doesn’t speak for no reason

Another pile of garbage comes spewing out of this man’s mouth,and yet again I find myself wondering how the hell can the owners of the sport keep letting this maniac be in charge of their product. Can they not see what is happening? I don’t care if he’s senile or playing some strategy,he is destroying the sport I’ve loved since before my kindergarten days. Where once I used to hear F1 and think cool cars, fast drivers, and amazing spectacle, all I think now is greed, politics, and pretense. I hate the fact that one man is destroying my relationship with my favourite sport,and it breaks my heart to watch it happen. As much as I don’t want to, I will keep watching F1, but its with a resigned and saddened disposition.

Well said. Very much my own feelings. However, I don’t think I’ll be continuing to watch for much longer because I can see the BBC using the increasingly sordid reputation of the sport as an excuse to wash their hands of it after 2018.

Funny, I find myself agreeing with Ecclestone more and more, or at least saying to myself “I understand why he thinks that”. This is not to say I agree with everything he said, but I would be very interested in hearing what he knows and what he really has to say — not just about F1, but the world in general. One doesn’t acquire his wealth and connections without knowing a thing or two that the general public is protected from knowing…

I do wonder what F1 will be like when he is replaced. I assume it will take multiple people to replace him. If most of the dramatic political problems go away, they better build a hell of a racing series to keep people interested, because it seems like a very large percentage of F1’s publicity relies on the never ending democratic power struggle that ensures very little gets accomplished and no peace is had. There’s been some good racing this year, but there has been far too much off-track drama overshadowing the racing. I actually forget most of what has happened on the track this year because I tend to get sucked into the political side of it all, it’s become an addictive soap opera to me.

1) don’t mistake one mans way of doing stuff and having succes with it as the only way to do it. On top of that most of the worlds big inventions are attributed to one person or a small group working on something. But in most cases they were issues being worked on by several people at the same time. So one human being is extremely rarely the decisive factor if at all.

2) having very little of a conscience to bother someone in his or her actions and being at the right time in the right place is usually enough to build a fast fortune like his. Having a big ego or outright narcissistic tendencies are often found here too. Knowing how people work and playing with that is more important here than just knowing stuff ‘the public is protected from’.

I agree with “right time, right place”. However, that’s the case with nearly any situation, no matter how talented one is. Ecclestone is clearly a unique enough individual to make others in F1 think that he is irreplaceable, or else he would have been replaced by now. I agree there must be another way to run F1, but to me the most logical way is to do it is how he wants to do it, which is the teams losing the ability to constantly stroke their egos, and F1 being ruled by a dictator who can get things done so progress consistently happens. (This is not to say they shouldn’t be allowed to give input, especially regarding safety, but they should not be deciding the rules and regulations of the sport.) At the same time, I don’t think Ecclestone is the right person for the job, but I do think there is a lot of value within his “old fashioned” ideas that seem to be lost nowadays.

No I agree he is not the right man anymore…he has done great things in de past…but I do struggle to see how the teams actually would see him as irreplaceable at the moment….because a big part of the mess we are in is probably because of his inability to act and that comes largely from his activities where he has not been transparant and has had run ins with the law….

The teams should not have as much input into the regulations as they actually have. The FIA should do that task and much stronger as well! But throughout the whole of F1 too much ‘men’ making too much money and having an ego to match that income…..yes as Joe says a lot of the times there are a lot of really smart people in F1, but they’re designing the cars and I don’t really see exceptionally smart people at the helm of F1 or the teams.

I wondered overnight about BCE’s purpose, assuming mere senility, personal amorality or a rather sad, teen-like awe of probably the most powerful man with whom he has ever done business are not the answers.

It could be a clever way to help get rid of those pesky, low-rent European races. Make yourself persona non grata so that nobody wants (or can be seen) to deal with you? The calendar could then expand further into (potentially) murky territories with huge coffers. The US would be an affordable casualty as BCE is only interested in the race fee not any potential market expansions for the teams or their sponsors.

Mind you, it’s a dangerous game with statements likely to haunt during possible EU (or any other) investigations, although I suspect this will take years to have any impact and, given America’s recent strikes against FiFA and VAG, one can easily imagine a justice official just itching to exercise a warrant with BCE’s name on it. Go get him, hoss!

Sadly delusional megalomaniacs with too much money and power have always been the norm in business and politics.His contemptuous remarks aimed at Force India and Sauber after their recent actions, tells you all you need to know about the man’s character. I’m pretty sick of people within the sport trotting out the same old mantra ‘Bernie’s has done great things for the sport” as if that give him a free licence to do whatever he want’s. You only have to watch his recent interview with Martin Brundle and his answers concerning Silverstone to realise that his greed and is un paralleled within the sport. The concept of protecting the very birthplace of Formula 1, or indeed giving back something to the sport that has made him rich beyond most peoples comprehension, is completely lost on this sad individual.

Joe, unrelated to your topic, but were you aware that when viewing your site on a phone, replies become condensed into a single vertical string of characters?
It renders some replies as unreadable, if one is not prepared for some cognitive gymnastics.

I really don’t think The Bolt considers his comments as being that important in the world and as a consequence says to the press what he might say to a pall down the pub. I think this is what happened in the famous Hitler quotes. Two nice girls popped in from the Times and he had a chat with them.

Bernie has a view of the world which is different to many, however I think sometimes people are brainwashed by certain elements of the media. The English have always had it for Blatter since we were not awarded the World Cup.

I’m not standing up for anyone but you have to be careful what you read….

Firstly, he’s in Russian, on Russian TV, he relies on Putin’s goodwill for his Grand Prix, a presenter asks him what he things of Putin – what’s he gonna say? Get real; of course he’s going to praise the guy.

Plus he’s absolutely right about Putin being a real leader; Obama’s a busted flush, and the view that Putin at least has shown the balls to get stuck into the Syrian / ISIS problem while everyone else wrings their hands and moans and talks about maybe issuing condemnations is one that has a LOT of support around the world.

Re. Blatter, far as I’m aware he’s not been convicted of any offence, except in the court of public opinion, so Bernie’s perfectly entitled to offer his support.

He’s correct about the United States’ parochial and insular perspective of the world – that’s a view that the Guardian has been promoting for years. Believe me, you want a weekly drip drip of criticism about America, check out that rag.

He’s absolutely correct about the ongoing demise of Europe. Diluted by petty bureaucracy, rampant immigration and a no-end-in-sight economic crisis, it’s little wonder he prefers dealing with sovereign states like Abu Dhabi than socialist shells like France.

But all commenters here can do is call him ‘snake’, ‘lunatic’ and ‘crazy’. Nope. He’s just – as with Donald Trump – successful enough not to have to give a sweet damn what anyone thinks of him. Give me one Bernie over a horde of mealy-mouthed career bureaucrats any day of the week.

Putin is bombing targets in Syria from the air. Can you explain to me how this is different to what ‘busted flush’ Obama has done?

Putin has presided over an economy that has fallen off a cliff, a collapse in the price of Russia’s largest exportable commodities, which was caused by a price war with other oil producing nations, triggered by his diplomatic incompetence. He’s thinks he can solve all the problems this has caused by returning to an agriculture – based economy.

No but Martin Sorrell (who is on the board of CVC and is a very successful Marketing magnate) is Jewish and was quite understandably offended by Bernie’s crass and indefensible comments. The fact that he was wrong (Hitler bankrupted Germany to achieve ‘full employment’ to the point that he needed to go to war or their economy was shot through) is irrelevant. It was an appalling thing to say and any right minded person, let alone anyone of Jewish heritage, would be repulsed by his ill-judged comments. For one so usually sure footed it was a bizarre outburst. The most charitable explanation is that he has a poor grasp of history combined with a mischievous nature. But I struggle to believe that. Frankly, what he said stank. And continues to stink to this day…

There’s understandable concentration on certain aspects of this interview, but there was one part of it which struck a chord with me. Namely, his (well known) feelings about the overregulation of the sport, the piling on of rules onto rules until the reason for them has been forgotten, and the stifling of competition. If he can see that they’re ruining the sport, and he’s so all-powerful, why doesn’t he just get rid of them? Or is it a democracy after all?

Interesting he references FIFA and Blatter, although the FBI started the case with a load of arrests at a lower level with the aim of getting to the top it wasn’t until the sponsors jumped (or threatened to) that the rest of the organisation acted and told Blatter he had to step down.

Any F1 sponsors happy with BCE’s Rhetoric? And then we get down to the teams own sponsors, they surely cant be happy to have their logos associated with this view point. Given the difficulty for teams to get sponsors do you think they’ll have a word with Donald McKenzie collectively?

No sponsors, no teams – no teams, no race? I know there’s more money within F1 with a majority coming from the tracks themselves but even so that wont be enough on it’s own without sponsors – especially if we’re looking at new owners or a management buy-out in the not too distant future.

A reminder we all make mistakes:
BBC announce..”Lack Of Digital Skills: People Are Unable To Shopping Online Or Apply For Jobs”. Yes that’s shopping not shop.
Would FOM make an error like this? and they have only a miniscule percentage of like for like resources. It’s written into the broadcast agreements laid down before the arc. Let the EU investigate.
Even Sauber write good english on their twitter.

The issue in the US with regards to F1 is that F1 isn’t producing a product that appeals to the market. Ecclestone doesn’t understand the market, has priced his product too high and makes demands that don’t make sense for those that may otherwise promote the product.

I think that Bernie revealed much of his motivation by his comment that he ‘was a used-car salesman’. The motivation of many used car salesman is that they should ‘stripe the punter’, i.e. sell a vehicle for more than it is worth.

The gold medal in used car trading was to buy something for less than it was worth and sell it for more than it was worth.

The Arthur Daley approach to warranty claims seems to be the Mr E response to questions. It appears to be a ‘deal with the moment’ strategy. The next day or even the next hour is another matter.

Hence the response to “who is the best driver”, one day Rindt a few days later Prost.

There may of course be other diagnoses but after years of ducking and weaving a knockout punch seems still some way off but the legs seem to be going.

Thanks for that link Joe. Fascinating. To describe her questions as leading would be a serious understatement. They would have a barrister slamming their fist and shouting “Objection” at the top of their voice and with good reason. “Oh Mr Ecclestone you exercise total power and do an amazing job while still working within a democratic system, can you think of anyone else who does that well”. Errrrrr, gosh, who could she possibly be prompting him to name? Bernie is no dummy and must have been a bit embarrassed at how blatant it was but he played the game. It wasn’t so much an interview as a charade. Her squeals of delight every time he threw her a bone by trashing Obama/the west or polishing Vlad’s trumpet were as revealing as they were nauseating. Still, he’s a clever fella…